There must be something about facing Williamsport that brings out the best in Pottsville’s Travis Blankenhorn.
The senior guard was almost perfect against the Millionaires on Saturday afternoon. So were the rest of the Crimson Tide for that matter.
Blankenhorn scored 24 points and Eli Nabholz added 18, while the defense turned in another shutdown performance to lead Pottsville to a 62-32 rout of Williamsport in a non-league contest at Martz Hall.
Blankenhorn tallied a career-high 33 points during the Crimson Tide’s 53-37 win at Williamsport last season. Blankenhorn’s output Saturday was a season high, beating the 22 he scored against Salisbury on Dec. 20.
Blankenhorn finished the game 10-of-12 from the field, including a 3-for-5 performance from beyond the arc. He scored 19 of his points in the first half, with 13 coming in the second quarter, as Pottsville (8-0) raced out to a 31-14 halftime advantage.
“I guess my teammates got me open a lot today and I was able to knock my shots down,” Blankenhorn said.
Nabholz, who missed the Crimson Tide’s 77-30 victory over Nativity on Tuesday with a concussion, returned to the starting lineup Saturday and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field. He did most of his damage in the second half where he scored 12 points. Eight came in the third quarter as Pottsville held a 19-5 scoring advantage to take a 50-19 lead and put the game away.
“Just going out and trying to do the same offensive principles: Post up, one pass, back
seal and try to get a lob,” Nabholz said. “There just wasn’t a lot of backside help today, so we got a couple of lay-ups from the passes.”
Jordan Melochick added seven rebounds and four assists for the Crimson Tide, while Blankenhorn had six boards and Connor Hinchliffe collected five assists.
Sophomore Isaiah Hankins led the Millionaires (4-5) with 12 points.
Saturday’s victory was eighth time this season Pottsville won by 15 or more points, and the seventh consecutive game decided by 20 or more points. It was the perfect tune up for what will be a big three-game stretch for the Crimson Tide, which starts Monday at Tamaqua (9-1, 3-0 D-I) in a showdown of the two remaining Schuylkill League Division I teams undefeated in the division.
Pottsville then hosts Shamokin (7-2) in a non-game Wednesday and travels to Lehighton (8-1, 2-1) next Saturday.
“We haven’t always been happy after some wins, but we are happy after today,” Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney said. “Williamsport is a great program and that was a great win for us.”
There was plenty to be happy with.
Offensively, the Tide were efficient and patient against Williamsport’s pressure defense, whether the Millionaires were playing man-to-man or a 1-3-1 zone. Pottsville had tons of looks inside and finished the game 26-for-40 (65 percent) from the field.
“We thought if we handled their pressure and ran our half-court offense that there were going to be openings for us,” Mullaney said. “For the most part we were able to work inside out.”
Pottsville was just as solid on the defensive end.
Williamsport came into Saturday’s game averaging 67.6 points per contest, but struggled against the Crimson Tide in half court. The Millionaires shot 10-of-41 (24 percent) from the field and turned the ball over 16 times.
“They are definitely (athletic) and they could take us off the dribble,” Blankenhorn said. “One of our keys was to just kept them in front and if they went backdoor, just have another person to help. We had a lot of help defense.”
Pottsville led 10-7 late in the first quarter before going on a 21-7 run to close the first half. Blankenhorn had all five of the Crimson Tide’s field goals during the second quarter, including all three of his 3s. His last came with 2 seconds left in the half when he knocked down a trey from the top of the circle off a pick.
Blankenhorn’s first-half shooting opened up the inside game even more in the third quarter. All of Nabholz’s points in the third came inside the paint, topped off with a putback with 1 minute to go. Melochick finished off the quarter, scoring on a lay-up with 4 seconds remaining to make it 50-19.
“They pressed a little bit,” Nabholz said. “We weren’t able to get a lot of shots but all of us got lay-ups in the second half.”
Game Summary
WILLIAMSPORT (32) — Gosly 1 3-5 5, Scott 3 0-0 6, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Chestnut 0 0-0 0, Peterson 0 1-2 1, Hankins 4 3-3 12, Williams 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Carson 0 2-2 2, 1 1-2 4, Ali 0 2-2 2. Totals 9 12-16 32.
POTTSVILLE (62) — Hinchliffe 0 2-2 2, Gerchak 0 0-0 0, Painter 1 0-2 2, Blankenhorn 10 1-2 24, Thomas 2 0-1 4, Dunkel 0 0-1 0, Melochick 2 0-0 4, Witman 1 0-0 2, Abdo 1 4-4 6, Nabholz 9 0-0 18, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Renninger 0 0-2 0, O’Pake 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 7-14 62.
Wil (4-5) 7 7 5 13 — 32 Pot (8-0) 14 17 19 12 — 62
3-point FGs: Hankins, Benjamin, Blankenhorn 3
JV score: Pottsville 53-52